Entering right races pays off for New Balance grand prix winner

It has happened before. Someone shoots up in the New Balance grand prix from way down in the rankings to first place.

This year when I saw that Joshua Izewski of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, ran in the Philadelphia 8K on Nov. 18, finishing second in 23:34 at 4:44 pace, and the next day ran the Great Swamp 15K in a slow time for him; 56:55 at 6:06 pace, but fast enough to stay ahead of the rest of the runners. That’s when I knew that Izewski had realized that if he got to the right races he could win the New Jersey New Balance grand prix and take home a check for $500.

He was in 91st place on Nov. 9 and missing four races. By Dec. 1 he had added the Great Swamp 15K and the Westfield Turkey trot 5 mile and had moved up to 25th place. All he needed was a nonchampionship 5K, and he smartly went to the Trinity Academy Reindeer Run and collected $250 for his 15:33 win.

The only race that Izewski didn’t win was the Ashenfelter 8K when he finished in fourth place. With such a huge field in that race, he came away with 699 points out of a possible 700.

Karl O’Reilly of Morristown had been in the lead at the previous publication of the grand prix series and finished with 5,685 points. Kyle Price of Milltown, a previous winner, was third trailing O’Reilly by only five points.

Top women

On the women’s side there was no surprise, with Karen Auteri of Belvidere having had the lead for some time now. She won with 5,689 points. Hortencia Aliaga of Garfield was second trailing Auteri by 12 points; a remarkable performance for a 45-year-old. Lauren Jackson of Augusta placed third with 5,659 points.

Rob Albano of Mahwah won the men’s Mini One series and Elena Rozhko of Morristown won the women’s Mini One grand prix. Ruscel Kirkland of Haledon won the men’s Mini Two, with Charlie Slaughter of Parsippany taking second and Craig Roushinko of Succasunna in third. Aya Leitz of Jersey City won the women’s Mini Two.

James Button of Mendham won the long-distance men’s Mini Three with Roushinko taking second.

NEW JERSEY TEAM MEDALS AT THE NATIONAL CLUB CROSS COUNTRY MEET

The Shore Athletic Club’s M60 team took home a bronze medal at the national club cross country meet last Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky. Reno Stirrat of Rockaway finished in 33:43 for 14th in his age division, well off his game.

All of the runners came away from the meet chilled by vicious winds and frigid temperatures. The ground was frozen, and Stirrat reported later than he came away with a sore hip probably caused by the unyielding ground.

Susan Stirrat finished the 6 kilometer masters women’s race in 30:05 for 10th place in the W60 division.

Here in New Jersey it looks like doughnut lovers converged on Montclair for the Donut Run 5K last Sunday. At least 1,847 doughnut lovers finished the race.

Rob Albano won the race in 15:34 with Justin Scheid of Succasunna in second in 15:59.

Scheid must have made a beeline for home from Lexington, as he also competed in the national cross country meet on Dec. 9 where he finished the 10km in 31:52, not far behind Aaron Leskow of Morristown who finished in 31:50.

Leskow and grand prix winner Izewski, who finished in 30:49, were on the adidas Garden State Track Club team that finished in tenth place out of 49 teams.

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